TORONTO (REUTERS) - The Toronto Raptors got their first win of the National Basketball Association Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday with DeMar DeRozan scoring 32 points in a 99-84 Game 3 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Raptors led by as many as 18 in the second quarter, were ahead by 13 at half-time, and were up by 15 early in the fourth.
The Cavaliers, who did not lose a game in the first two rounds of the playoffs, cut the deficit to eight before Raptors centre Bismack Biyombo made six successive points to increase the lead to 14 with 3min 38sec to play.
Kyle Lowry added 20 points for the Raptors, Cory Joseph had 14, DeMarre Carroll 10, and Patrick Patterson 10. Biyombo grabbed a franchise playoff record 26 rebounds and added seven points and four blocks.
LeBron James scored 24 points for the Cavaliers, who won the first two games of the series in Cleveland. J.R. Smith added 22 for Cleveland while Kyrie Irving had 13 and Channing Frye 11.
DeRozan's apparent three-pointer at the buzzer to end the first quarter was waved off after a review showed time had expired. Toronto settled for a 27-24 lead entering the second quarter.
Lowry picked up his third foul of the game with 8:07 left in the second quarter.
Joseph's three-pointer with 4:09 to play in the second quarter gave the Raptors a 49-37 lead. After a Cavaliers' miss, Carroll made a three-point shot for a 15-point Toronto lead. Patterson's lay-up with 1:22 to play boosted the advantage to 18.
James closed the half with a three-pointer and the Raptors led 60-47.
Biyombo had no points but grabbed 16 first-half rebounds for Toronto. DeRozan led all scorers in the first half with 21 points. James led Cleveland with 14.
The Cavaliers opened the second half on a surge and had the lead down to six with 9:44 to play in the third quarter when James made a free throw after he was fouled making a layup.
After the Raptors went up by 11, Smith hit two straight three-pointers to trim the lead to five with 4:20 to play in the third.
Joseph hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter to give Toronto an 80-70 lead.
The Raptors scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to go up by 15.
Richard Jefferson made a layup with 6:38 to play to cut Toronto's lead to 10.
Biyombo's hook shot put Toronto ahead by 12 points with 4:39 to play and his layup extended the lead to 91-77.
Biyombo was called for a flagrant foul on James and the two free throws cut the lead to 12 but the Cavaliers could not take advantage of their possession awarded after the foul shots.
Joseph's pullup jumper with 1:38 to play restored Toronto's 14-point lead.
